Antithesis
by Alle Atze
Summary: Matt's not boring. He's different. The good kind of different. Rewritten and reposted.
1. Chapter 1

Middle Schooler AU. I has posted this before, but didn't like where the story was going so I made some slight changes here and there. Chapters, _hopefully, _will be posted every 4 days to a week.

* * *

"_I'm sorry Matt, you're our friend and everything but you're a little too boring._" Alfred says slowing, sharing a small smile. He looks around at the others. Arthur won't look up from his food. Neither will Andrea, Femke, or Matthias. _Boring_. The words ring in his ears. _Boring_. Matt wasn't boring, he was just different. Yeah, that's the word. Altered. Strange. Unequal. Variant. Anything but boring. He likes to think himself unique from his classmates. They seem to be carbon copies of each other. The boys play every sport in existence and own every sneaker in existence. And the girls? They seemed to be in their own little media filled world. I

n reality, they only knew him as that quiet kid who's good at drawing those Chinese cartoons. "_They're Japanese_." He'd say under his breath. "_And it's called anime._" And it was true, that he likes to draw anime. He'd spend hours on the same sketch until it was perfected. Then he'd bring it to school and show the others for them to coo over. He enjoys that kind of attention. But by the next day the spark was gone and he'd go unnoticed again.

Coming home from school, he threw his school bag on the couch and ran upstairs. He slips out of his uniform and into more comfortable. He lays back on his bed spread. For some reason he feels better in this environment then in his classroom. He opens his laptop, only to meet a blond hair and blue eyes. Matt stares at his reflection for a moment. "_Me and Al aren't that similar..._" He thinks. He wipes some hair stands away from his forehead. Alfred was loud, energetic and popular. Matthew was creative, kept, and foreign. Personality wise, they seem different but whenever they stand side by side people assume they're the same. It wasn't fair. He looked at himself one last time before turning on the power button.

Matt opens up Tumblr as soon as he opened his browser. He's greeted by a colorful gif in the background of the login page. He smiles. This is the exact reason he loves Tumblr. It's different, like him. Clicking Activity he found he gained 14 more followers, 2095 in total. Another reason to smile. He doesn't quite understand why he has all these followers or any at all for that matter. One day he deemed it was a damn good idea to write down his ideas and theories and Tumblr was the best place to do it. He decides to read some Fan Mail. One was from a guy in Australia. He felt overshadowed by his younger brother who always seemed to achieve more than he did. Another was from a girl from Hungary. Her parents and sister keep pressuring her into choosing a career she had no passion for. Matt shook his head. Usually he'd respond to these kinds of things but he had no ideas. He puts the thought off until tomorrow.

It's 10:00pm and that's Matt's curfew. He keeps thinking about those two kids. "_What if they're in_ _college and it's too late to change? No wait..."_ He tries to imagine what they look like, their family, how they feel. "_Both will be brunette and green eyed but Liz will have a lighter shade..."_ The more he thinks, the more they sound like characters with fictional problems. He lets his mind create background, a setting and plot. In the morning, he'll start a strip based off of these "characters". "_Yeah...I'll work on it for like a year. Then get it published. That sounds good."_

_-/-_

5:00 am. He can't sleep. And it's not about the characters this time. It's about his friends. The last time he saw them was Friday and that's when he couldn't take it anymore. He blew up. You see, Matt loves his friends; they're just like him, different. But they try too hard to be different to point where it gets annoying. They want to be those outcasts you see in high school movies who always seem to win in the end. _Why_? He doesn't understand. Being the reject is NOT FUN NOR COOL. To have everyone look at you like you were some alien species. To have them completely ignore you. To have people talk about you behind you back is something no one should have to endure.

He brings his knees to his chest. He'd wouldn't be surprised if they never got rid of this "social outcast" thing. All Matt wishes for is a year, a month, or even a minute where people didn't think of him as less. He wants to be thought of like a classmate, an equal. He nevers wants to be thought of like the counter-argument, or the paper that never was, again.

* * *

So these are Matthew's thoughts just told in third person if you got confused by the writing style.


	2. Messy Hair and Stolen Cereal

6:35 am. Matt hears his parents' bedroom door slam and suddenly jolts awake. His body abruptly clutches forward, as if a hidden spirit awoke in him. It only takes him seconds to realize what had happen. His body softens up and he lays his head back down on his pillow. He mutters quietly to himself as his mind returns to the sleepy state it was. "_Alfred, you better get the fuck up now or I swear I'm gonna-" _Nope.

Matt opens his eyes again. This time with the sun shining directly on his face, making his vision kind of blurred. It wasn't uncommon that he'd be woken up by his mother like this. Sometimes Alfred would go down to the kitchen and make a terrible mess that would get her all worked up like that. Then when she makes her morning coffee, the one she drinks on the bus ride to work, she might find a whole bag bread in the freezer or a half-eaten fruit by the foot mixed in with the Milo. And that is when she'd go all out.

After about 5 minutes of _I can't stand living in this pigsty!_ and _I'm going to start making you eat the schools' breakfast if you don't stop_, she calms down and makes her way to Matt's doorway. _"Mattie, are you awake?"_

He hums. _"Good. Your brother is to only eat pre-prepared foods. Don't let him use the microwave or anything. Oh, and I'll be home late. I have recaps again. Find something productive to do while I'm gone."_ She shuts the door extra hard.

There were 2 reasons why Matthew favored his mom over his dad. 1) Because she had always recognized him as the responsible one and 2) She didn't have any rules when it came to swearing.

With his mind still on sleep mode, he rolls over to the right side of the bed to check the time. 6:47. _Ugh._ Still too early to get up on a Saturday.

He's silent for a minute. His mind void of any thoughts. Then it hit him. _You do realize your own friends_ _called you boring yesterday right?_ Right. Shit.

To be honest, the thought hadn't completely left him. He has a tendency to push things into the back of his mind though those things have a tendency to work their way to the front again.

What made him angry about the whole thing is that they didn't even give him a reason to why he was boring. Maybe because it was different interests? His friends were good sports players yet he stuck to visual arts.

Maybe they always thought he was boring. Maybe this was a pity friendship and they were done being friends with the lonely, curly-haired preschooler who had a slight obsession with DBZ.

_God, I'm over thinking this._ He Runs his fingers through his blonde locks and sits up in his bed. He glances over at the clock. 7:12. Did he seriously spend twenty-five minutes thinking about that?

He kicks his legs over the edge of the bed in a carefree way. He then stands up, a little wobbly at first, but he maintains his balance.

Using the hallway walls as leverage, he makes his way to the bathroom. This is the part he hates the most about mornings. The whole morning routine, digging in the back of the fridge for something to eat, and looking at himself in the mirror. He brushes his hair and teeth simultaneously and then heads downstairs for breakfast.

Alfred's down there, sitting at the edge of the couch watching old Disney reruns. In his hands is a bowl of Lucky Charms and beside him, an orange smoothie. Matt walks right past him but his eyes stay glued to the TV. "_He probably didn't remember Friday_" He thinks.

Glancing at the bowl of cereal again, he decides that's what he'll have. He takes out the soymilk. He pours it in a bowl but out comes a watery milky mess. Expired. He takes out 2 eggs to cook but they're rotten. There's very little pancake mix and the bread has turned a weird greenish brownish color. He crosses his arms in frustration. _"How the hell did Alfred get something to eat then?"_

_"Al."_

_"Hmm?"_

_"What are you eating?"_

Alfred looks at Matt and then back down at his bowl. He doesn't say at first, knowing that if he told him the truth he'd be pissed, he decides to lie. _"Erm...since there wasn't enough Lucky Charms I mixed it with_ _Cheerios."_ Matt gives a cynical look. _"We've never brought cheerios. Like ever." _Al looks down again. He can feel Matt glaring at him.

"_Did you like, jack that off of someone."_

"_What?"_

"_Did you steal that from someone?"_

"_Don't be fucking ridiculous." _ He grips the bowl more tightly now. "_It's like 7:00 in the morning. Do you really think I'd go steal food from someone this early in the morning." _ That silences Matthew. He has a point. Despite all the crazy stuff Alfred has done in the past, stealing a bowl of cereal seemed a little unrealistic. Matt drops the issue.

"_Whatever." _ He trots back up the stairs. _"Yeah, that's right." _Al says under his breath. "_Walk away. Like a bitch." _Playful banter is the two live for.

-/-

2:35 Monday. Matt's so tired. Five tests, two group projects, and an awfully long double period of French. Now he just wants to go home and rest. Like go home and take a nap until the next morning. Forget about tomorrow. Live in the moment or - sleep - in the moment in his case.

His bulging school bag is idle on his desk. All he's really waiting for is for them to call bus. He takes out a book while he waits. Though...in the corner of his eye, he sees some people trying to signal him.

The brunette one taps her desk every couple of seconds. The Grey haired one waves her hands around in a crazy motion. He ignores them until he hears a not so discreet "Mattie!" He turns around. Andrea and Julchen.

Andrea and Julchen can be considered Matthew's only close friends. Both are quite popular in their own right. Andrea for being extremely athletic and bring donuts in for her birthday. Julchen for going against the dress code (grey hair?), getting demerits, being brash and all that jazz. How the three even became friends is blurred but they've known each other for years and they tend to not think about.

_"Mattie, come here."_ Julchen yell-whispers again. He scoots his chair back until it hits the edge of Andrea's desk. _"You summoned?" _ The two girls giggle. Julchen brings up something that happened in Math and the trio starts a conversation. This was something he was used to too.

This little conversation reviews everything that happened during the day, like a summary.

Before getting caught up, Andrea says "_Matt, before I forget." _And she pushes a small red envelope towards him. He knows what this is. He's been getting this same envelope for the past couple of years. His invitation to Andrea's Christmas party.

It had originally started out as Andrea's Birthday Party but her birthday is so close to Christmas, he assumes her parents decided to combine the two holidays to save money. While he loves Andrea, this is the most dreaded event of the year for him.

One, he isn't a party person. He doesn't like being in a room with too many people. Two, he _barely _gets noticed. Feli and Monika's break up got more rec then he has in the past 3 years. His own classmates have literally asked if he was new. Third, too much drama.

"_Uh…you're looking at the invite all weird Mattie." _Matt sighs and slips the envelope into his pocket. Maybe he can make up some excuse or something, like he got sick or Alfred died or something.

"_You're going to this party, Mattie. I'll make sure of it. I know where you live and if you don't show up, I'll get my people to give you a little surprise on your doorstep. Don't believe me? Ask Roderich." _Julchen says in a mouthful.

"_Heh." _Andrea smiles._ "What Jules is trying to say is that this is a really good opportunity for you. I've invited some people from other school so you might meet someone you like." _Unlikely. "_Just come. And I you don't have a good time, I won't invite you again."_

"_I'll tell you what. I'll come for 10 minutes, __**that's it.**__ I'll give Drea her present and pick up a goodie bag."_

Andrea claps her hands in excitement while Julchen gives him a strange look. _"Oh my god, you are going to have the time of your life, you don't even know." _ And if he did he'd probably avoid these two for the rest of his natural born life.


	3. The Usual

10am Tuesday. Matt didn't feel like being here. He didn't feel like waking up at 5:30 in the morning. He didn't feel like waiting for 30 minutes for an extremely late bus. He didn't feel like getting yelled at, _twice, _for forgetting a copy book in his homeroom. Unfortunately that was the Tuesday aura. This has been happening to him every Tuesday since the beginning of school. This was the day he woke up an hour before he was supposed to and could never get back to sleep.

Everyday had a gloomy aura to it. Mondays were sickening. Every Monday had brought a feeling to the back of his throat that made him want to throw up. Wednesdays made a forced energetic feeling because of first period gym. Thursdays made him fed up because of French by that drip teacher. Fridays weren't even that great in Matthew's opinion. Sure, they brought on the weekend but those 48 hours were too short to enjoy. Matt had already came to the conclusion that the rest of the school year was going to be like that.

So since that's how every Tuesday is going to be, Matt decides to listen to his Science teacher chew him out about the forgotten copybook. He decides to listen to her go on about wasting time when it is in fact _she _that's wasting time giving this lecture. And he decides to listen to _something something _student handbook _something something _detention.

He's heard this before.

-/-

12:14pm. Outdoor Recess. The 2nd part of the routine was to wait by the vending machines until Julchen and Andrea finished math tutoring. He'd usually wait with Bella and Mathias but, you know. Admittedly, he really doesn't feel lonely. He finds it comforting to just observe people carry on with their school lives.

He notices something. Everyone's in their own groups in their own section of the yard. Like in the upper right corner there's icicles, - extremely mean popular kids. And in the lower right, there's poprocks - ditzy popular boys.

The left is more barren, smaller groups of normies, Minecraft nerds, and the friendless. They have their own little hierarchy too. The two most popular, unpopular kids are in reality wannabes. Everyone's goal is to get to the top, to be in the limelight for once.

Lost in his own mind, he suddenly feels sharp nails digging into his shoulders. "_**HEYO, YOU MISSED US?!**__"_

_"Jules..." _He softly smiles down to her. There's this devilish sparkle in her eye that only means trouble. _"So sorry we're late. Someone made a stupid vine joke in math and the teacher had to spend like 8 hours explaining how it the answer couldn't possibly be 21."_

_"They make that joke everyday...which is why we're always late." _Andrea adds. Mattie hums. 15 minutes late, _check. _Annoying kid in math, _check. _

The trio makes their way over to the middle of the school yard, where the concrete blocks are. It isn't really a school yard. There are no swings or basketball courts or a place for tetherball. It just an unused parking lot.

The middle is the most abandoned spot. Since both sides are slanted slightly inward, the middle acts like a bowl. Whenever it snows a giant slab of ice forms which people seem to love tripping on? In the summer the sun shines directly over them, which can be annoying some times. Overall the middle is great for being isolated from everyone else. They sit down on the biggest concrete piece.

_"So, Dre, who else did you invite to your party?" _Mattie asks and Andrea's face lights up. He's surprised at the words that just came out of his mouth. He never really considered going to the party, so why is he bringing it up?

Julchen seems to catch that. _"Uh...you care?" _

_"You guys seem pretty buzzed about it." _Seriously?

_"Well, if you must know." _Andrea sighs happily. She turns her body toward the two. "_I could only invite the people in our class. Last year I invited everyone in the grade and my sister's room ended up getting destroyed." _

_"And the food?" _What _are_ you doing?

_"Standard Christmas junk. Candy canes, fruit cake, brownies in the shape of snowflakes." _Her gaze lingers over Mattie's face. She hopes that would have persuaded him to change his mind. Matt opens his mouth to say something when _"Dre__**aaaaaaaa**__!"_

A boy is waving at the group from the right side of the yard. "_Oh, god." _Julchen narrows her eyes at the far boy and his posse. _"Can you please just tell him to __**leave you alone? **__No, tell him to leave __**me **__alone."_

Andrea giggles, like Julchen was joking or something. _"That's a little rude, don't ya think? And he doesn't really bother me."_

The posse comes in and sits around the three, except for their leader who stands right in front of Andrea. _"Drea, Alfred brother and..."_ He looks down at Julchen. _"Witch." _Julchen rolls her eyes and slips him off.

_"Lovino..." _She blushes. Lovino obnoxiously pushes Julchen over and smudges in between the two of them. _"Tell me, Drea. Why haven't I got an invitation to your party?" _

_"Cause...I can only invite people in my class?" _She says with a bit of doubt. Lovino and Andrea used to have chemistry. They used to be the Feli/Monika of the current grade until a rumor went around saying that Lovino _apparently _went to the mall with Bella. Since then they've unofficially broken up which Matt doesn't quite get since they weren't dating in the first place. Nowadays the only time they ever talk is when Lovi wants something, which is what he's doing now.

_"Um. You can make an exception for me, right? And Feli? It's only for two extra people." _

_"Well..." _Andrea hesitates for a moment. Then she looks into Lovino's pleading eyes. "_I guess it'd be alright. I mean my parents don't really know you like that. I could always just lie and say that you're in my class anyway."_

_"Great." _He fake giggles and kisses Andrea's cheek. _"I'll probably give you a gift this year. I don't know yet."_

_"Oh, you don't have to do that!" _

Sickening_. _

_-/-_

_3:14_. The 3rd, and probably the worst part of the Tuesday routine is walking home with Alfred, Julchen, and Lady Alice. Lady (1, cause she's a drip and 2, cause she's English) Alice is the bitchiest person you'll ever meet. She controls Alfred like a dog, always yelling and bitching at him for something. And it's always _Al, can you carry my bag _and _Does your brother even __**speak? **_She doesn't think too fondly of Julchen either. (_"What a punk looking thing. Your mom seriously let you dye your hair grey?")_

Today she's not as bad. She too focused on whatever she's doing on her phone. It's relatively peaceful until _"Isabelle's having a Christmas party next week. I'm assuming you'll be attending. With me. With me I mean."_

_"Wouldn't miss it for the world, babe." _

Matt and Julchen exchange a look. _Babe? Really, dude? _ _"Great. The whole grade will be there. And her young sister might have some friends over so look out for little kids." _

_"Wait...is her name Andrea?" _Julchen mutters. _"Sumin' like that, yeah."_

_"Andrea's in our grade and she's having a party next week too."_

_"So they'll be 6th graders there?" _Julchen nods.

Alice scrunches up her face. She looks Julchen over then Matt over. _"God, gross. Look if you see us there, don't talk to us or tell anyone you know me." _She then whips her head back to Alfred, hair flying. Julchen makes little choking gestures behind her back.

This is going to be a living disaster, Matt can tell.

* * *

WHOOOAAA. Never thought I'd actually get this chapter in. Fem!Portugal = Isabelle btw. I'm thinking of creating a spin-off based on the 7th grade characters, the plot focusing on platonic Alfred and Alice. Yes? No? After I finish Antithesis?


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